Kerala HC orders local bodies to root out illegal media on a war-footing

Close on the heels of the outdoor advertising ban imposed in Bengaluru, the Kerala High Court has ordered removal of all unauthorised advertisement boards, including flex boards. The Hindu reports that Justice Devan Ramachandran has directed the Local Self-Government Principal Secretary to issue necessary orders or circulars or directives to all local self-government institutions to ensure that all illegally erected advertisement boards were removed on a war footing and that such boards were not permitted to occupy public places.

The Court has observed that the media should be erected only in the specific locations permitted by the concerned local bodies. The court issued the directives when a writ petition seeking a directive to ban such advertisement boards from public places came up for hearing.

The court has observed that at a time when the Centre and the State governments were promoting sanitation and cleanliness under the Swachh Bharat Mission and Clean Kerala Mission, a few self-interested individuals or entities chose to violate the civic sense by placing such boards in public places.